August 05, 2010

O1 Communications Signs Agreement to Sell SMB Customer Base to TelePacific

By Anil Sharma
TMCnet Contributor

O1 Communications, a competitive local exchange carrier “CLEC” serving retail and wholesale business customers, has signed a definitive acquisition agreement to sell the company's retail customer base to TelePacific Communications, a business telecommunications provider in California and Las Vegas, Nevada.

Officials with O1 Communications (News - Alert) said that the company will retain its wholesale customer base and its name.

As part of the agreement, following regulatory approval, TelePacific will acquire O1 Communications' SMB accounts and assets primarily dedicated to serving that customer segment.

According to company officials, the transaction will include purchase of O1 Communications' Sacramento data center.

Company officials said that this is a strategic move for O1 Communications, which will allow the company to pursue a more efficient service provider model."O1 Communications has been growing its client base in the service provider market with aggressive pricing and flexible peering arrangements," said Max Seely, co-founder and senior vice president, O1 Communications, in a statement.

Seely said that by realigning company assets the company believes that it can develop this business to its full potential.

Company officials pointed out that going forward, O1 Communications will focus exclusively on its wholesale and carrier business, which has historically experienced the highest return on investment and greatest growth potential.

O1's wholesale services include call origination, call termination and SIP peering services – with new services currently in development."We believe this transaction is positive for all our customers," said Brad Jenkins, chief executive officer of O1 Communications.

Jenkins said that TelePacific has the network assets and resources to provide the company’s SMB customers the same high standards of support and service reliability they previously experienced.

The two companies will work closely together to ensure a seamless transition for O1's SMB customers.Dick Jalkut, president and chief executive officer of TelePacific, said that O1's small and medium business customer base is a perfect fit for TelePacific as both companies share high standards for customer service and support.

“We are looking forward to serving these new customers," said Jalkut.

In addition to acquiring the assets of the O1 SMB business, TelePacific will also be offering employment to all of the SMB employees upon close. "Our number one goal is to make the transition as seamless and successful as possible to our new customers which means giving them the same experience and first line support that they are used to on a daily basis," said Jalkut.

"We know that retaining the O1 employees are our best resource for meeting this goal," he said.

Anil Sharma is a contributing editor for TMCnet. To read more of Anil’s articles, please visit his columnist page.

Edited by Stefania Viscusi